To get to the vehicle barrier from Capileira, it is probably best to take a 4x4 vehicle since half of this 11 kilometre stretch is unpaved. The first paved part from Capileira winds through a series of sharp bends before turning into a dirt road that then zig-zags up through pine woods before reaching an esplanade with the checkpoint and barrier; from here we can continue on foot.

After passing the barrier the track unwinds for a good stretch under pines before emerging into open space with a view of Poqueira gully against the backdrop of Veleta. It then climbs up the eastern side of the Morrón de Prado Llano, now in an upland landscape of broom moors scattered with rocky outcrops. A few kilometres further on (8.8 from the barrier) now at a height of 2700 metres, we come to the vantage point called Mirador de Trevélez to the right of the track, a flat open space over a steepling drop giving sweeping views over the gully of the River Trevélez. The town of Trevélez, for all its smallness, stands out in the distance for the superimposed geometric forms of its white buildings.

Half a kilometre higher we come to the turnoff leading down on the left to the refuge of Poqueira. One and a half kilometres further on we break the 2800 metres barrier, in a landscape of yellow broom and naked rocks. The track then climbs up the western slopes of Mulhacén, gradually gaining height (passing a slippery scree slope) and heading for the Laguna de la Caldera, preceded by the smaller lake called Laguna de la Caldereta, from where a well-signposted track to the right leads up to the pinnacle of the Iberian peninsula. On a clear day the panoramic view from the peak is hard to wrench yourself away from.